Violence predicted ahead of Afghan vote
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-01 20:22

U.S. commanders in one of Afghanistan's most volatile provinces expect violence to peak a week ahead of Sept. 18 parliamentary elections but are confident the vote can go ahead without major disruptions.

Violence has surged in Paktika province — a former Taliban stronghold that shares a long, porous border with Pakistan — in recent weeks.

But commanders of U.S. troops camped on a dust-blown plain outside the provincial capital, Sharan, played down the ability of Taliban holdouts to pose a major threat to the vote.

Battalion commander Lt. Col. Timothy McGuire said Wednesday the violence would likely spike a week before the election, without attacks taking place on election day.

U.S. and coalition forces say they will leave the primary protection of Paktika's 150 polling stations to the fledgling Afghan police and army, with international troops providing backup, as will be the case throughout Afghanistan.

"Our expectation is that the Afghans are going to do 98 percent of this," said Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Coalition Forces-Afghanistan.

Eikenberry was briefing NATO commander Gen. James L. Jones, who was visiting Afghanistan ahead of the election.

NATO has 11,000 mostly European troops providing security in northern and western Afghanistan, while around 19,000 U.S.-led troops cover the south and east, including Paktika province.

Militants have stepped up attacks ahead of the landmark vote, and more than 1,100 people have been killed in the past six months.

Militants have regularly clashed with U.S. forces and their Afghan allies in Paktika. An Afghan police officer was being treated at the base's medical post Wednesday morning for shrapnel wounds from the latest attack.

However, U.S. commanders say the attacks are uncoordinated and often involve criminal elements as well as Taliban remnants who have vowed to disrupt the election.

"In Paktika there are some terrorist elements that run through the province, but that's a relatively weak element," Eikenberry said. "That (terrorist) network has been pretty well broken here in Afghanistan."

In addition to scattered bomb attacks, militants are using bullying and threats to try to intimidate voters, the U.S. officers told Jones. However, they said voter registration in the provinces is up from last year's presidential vote.

Afghan authorities expect a high turnout, including among woman voters.

"We expect 75 to 80 percent will vote," said Governor Haji Mohammed Ghulab Mangel, who attended the briefing at the U.S. base.

U.S. commanders said they were working with candidates to ensure they remain in the democratic process, even if they lose the vote. They said the main focus of their operation would be protecting ballot boxes as they are transported to vote-counting centers.

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